Fitting 549 Tools in 8.6 Square Meters

Posted on:3/18/2013

The machining of complex workpieces often requires the use of a number of cutting tools.

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Complete toolboxes with as many as 96 tools can be loaded/unloaded from the rack magazine during production.

The machining of complex workpieces often requires the use of a number of cutting tools. However, conventional, large-capacity tool magazines can take up a significant amount of floor space and lead to long tool-to-tool changeover time. To maximize the number of tools that a machine can access in a minimal amount of floor space, DMG/Mori Seiki has developed the ISO-50 Matrix magazine. (This was shown in use with the company’s DMC 80 U Duoblock machine at a recent open house at the Deckel Maho facility in Pfronten, Germany.) The ISO 50 Matrix combines rack and wheel magazines to accommodate 549 cutting tools while occupying just 8.6 square meters of floor space. It also enables the machine to realize a chip-to-chip tool change time of 4.1 seconds.

The rack magazine has room for 512 tools, while the upstream wheel magazine nearer to the machine holds 37. The machine’s toolchanger has direct access to both the rack and wheel magazines. The ISO-50 Matrix is compatible with many different tools ranging in size from 100 mm in diameter to 280- by 400-mm bridge tools. The maximum tool length when used with a DMC 80 U machine, for example, is 550 mm.

Setup operations are possible both at the rack magazine and the tool-loading station of the wheel magazine. In fact, complete toolboxes can be unloaded from the rack magazine. Each box can accommodate 96 tools with diameters as large as 100 mm. In addition to maximizing the number of tools available to a machine, significant tool capacity frees operators to perform value-adding secondary work during machining.

The ISO-50 Matrix is available with options including tool identification, mechanical tool breakage detection and brush taper cleaning.

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